U.S. Marshals Service Is Putting 50,000 Bitcoins Up For Sale

The U.S. Marshals Service said today that it will auction off another 50,000 bitcoins that were seized last fall from a computer belonging to Ross Ulbricht, the alleged owner of the online black-market bazaar, Silk Road. This is the second auction of bitcoins related to that arrest – in July, an auction of 30,000 bitcoins had a single winner, Tim Draper, founder and managing director the Silicon Valley-based VC firm Draper Fisher Jurveston (DFJ). The amount he paid was never disclosed, but was said to be at market rate (then, $645).

This new auction scheduled to be held on December 4th, and will only be open to pre-registered bidders. Those who registered for the auction earlier this year will have to do so again. The auction will proceed as the last one did: it takes place over email from 8 AM to 2 PM on the day of the event. According to Coindesk, the agency will begin accepting bids starting today, and ending on December 1st.

Over two rounds, the Marshals Service will auction off 10 blocks of 2,000 BTC in the first round followed by 10 blocks of 3,000 BTC in the second. Participants will also need to make initial deposits of $100,000 and $150,000 for the two rounds. The winner will be notified on December 5th, and payment is due by the 8th.

With bitcoins worth around $400 currently, the value of coins are at roughly $20 million, Coindesk calculates.

Following this auction, the U.S. Marshals Service will still have 94,000 bitcoins to sell off in the months ahead.